Caleb - Man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

[brokendoors]

True to his Mama's word, Caleb made it out of The Visit unscathed. And when they'd left, his mom did a lot of hugging to the point he'd actually started pushing her away with a totally age-appropriate 'ew, mom's hugging me!' gross face.

And he didn't think his mom minded, even!
It wasn't until the next day, when his mom was at work, that he made the tiny trek across the complex over to Casper's place.

He wanted to get Casper's input on things.

Comments

[brokendoors]

Eventually, in a few years, Caleb will understand this all too well. But now he's stubborn and hurting a little bit.

And there it was at Casper's words: The smile that melted Ivy to pieces. "Yes, please!" Outside! Yes!

[lovestofly]

Casper returned that smile with one of his own. Although... What to do? He'd usually just go flying, but obviously that wasn't an option.

"You can swim, right? 'Cause there's a nice lake nearby."

[brokendoors]

He'd only wanted to throw a ball around! This was decidedly better! "Yeah, I learned at the Y. My grandpa bought me a subscription so that mom and I could go swimming this Summer."

[lovestofly]

"Cool. Let me just call your mom real quick to ask. Maybe she'd want yo come too when she gets off work." Now where did he put his phone? Oh, right over there. These Nexus-lines were really awesome, to be able to reach everywhere. Must be magic.

[brokendoors]

Caleb waits with baited breath. He knows his mom will probably let him go, especially since it's with Casper. But it still felt really.. up in the air, he guessed.

Ivy sounds a little harried when she finally answers the phone. "Ivy Walker speaking, how may I help you?"

[lovestofly]

"Hi, hon. Busy day? Anyway, I'll be brief. I thought I'd take Caleb down to the lake. Is that okay?"

[brokendoors]

Her voice immediately changes, and it's quite obvious she's glad to hear from him. "Hi, honey. Yeah, that would be fine. Which lake?"

[lovestofly]

He didn't think she would say no, and if pleased that he was right. "There's one just nearby. If you wanna join us when you're done at work, just follow the path that goes over the hill behind my building. It's just a ten-minute walk."

[brokendoors]

Ivy is pretty sure she's not on speakerphone. "You want to see that new swimsuit, hm? I think I should be able to make a ten minute hike. Just make sure Caleb wears his sunscreen, please. We'll both cook like we're lobsters."

[lovestofly]

Casper laughs at the swimsuit comment, but with Caleb right there he can't really give a good reply to it. But yes, indeed, Ivy in a swimsuit is very much something he'll enjoy seeing. "Alright, will do." He'll even bring along something to snack on, in case they get hungry. Ivy should be, after a day at work, he guesses.

[brokendoors]

"I'll tell you all about my day when I get there. Want me to pick up something for dinner?"

[lovestofly]

Aha. That would save him the work and Caleb a wait. Then they could get going right away. "Sure thing."

[brokendoors]

"Great! I'll see you in .. maybe an hour and a half, then?"

[lovestofly]

"Alright, see you then. Love you." No, not going to be commenting on a swimsuit when the kid was around, but he had no problem with the kid hearing that.

After the call was ended he turned to Caleb. "Grab a couple of sodas from teh fridge, will you? While I go find my swim trunks."

[brokendoors]

And Caleb squeals a little bit and nods. "Yessir!" And he dashes off to the kitchen, taking his bowls with him.

[lovestofly]

Not long ago Casper would have been hesitant to go swimming with other people around due to the scar on his back. But over the past few years he had been working on not thinking so much about it, and was now more okay with it. Okay, so people would see it, but not many would really care. Not really.

he quickly changed into a pair of loose knee-length swim trunks, keeping his wifebeater and open linen shirt on for the walk over to the lake. Then they just needed to go back over to Ivy and Caleb's place for the kid to change and grab what he needed.

[brokendoors]

Caleb's seen the scars before, and quite honestly while he knows Casper doesn't like them too much, they're scars, which means they're cool.

He chatters about the lake on the short walk over. He's really excited! Maybe there's gonna be frogs! And tadpoles! And fish!
Caleb doesn't know how to fish, but he wants to learn how.

Once inside, he scampers off to change into his swim trunks. He thinks they're boss. Blue with sort of a hawaiian style to 'em, they come down to his knees, too, and while he's thinking of it, he adds a button down shirt. To look more like Casper's kid.

"Want to take some Little Debbie cakes?" he asks once he's back in the living room.

[lovestofly]

Caleb can think the scars are cool if he wants to. The simple fact that he can and doesn't really know what they mean to Casper, wouldn't really know even if Casper explained where they came from, that's a good thing.

"Sure," Casper replies to the offer of cakes. Even if Ivy will be bringing food when she comes, some little snack could still be good. So they get to join the sodas in Casper's bag. Then: off they go.

[brokendoors]

They're pure sugar, but they're amaaaazing and he looooves them. He takes two apiece. One's a little yellow cake with white frosting and sprinkles on top, and the other is chocolate and caramel and crispy rice.

The chattering continues. "Man, the lake's gonna be awesome!"

[lovestofly]

It is a good lake. Casper has been there before. No weird Nexus-y watermonsters hiding in the depths from what he can tell, and there's often a few other people - both grown-ups and kids - there for a swim.

Caleb's enthusiasm is infectious, and Casper's smile widens in response to it, his step lengthening a bit to get them there quicker. "So what do you wanna do when we get there?"

[brokendoors]

"Do you think we can jump in? Are there any jump-in spots?"

[lovestofly]

"Yeah, there's a pier. But before we go in, your mom ordered me to make sure you get some sunscreen on." He could probably use some as well.

[brokendoors]

He doesn't grumble at that. Not much, anyway, because he sort of likes the way the sunscreen smells. Sort of like Summer and the beach. He holds his arms out and assumes the position, squinting his eyes shut. "I'll spray you next!"

[lovestofly]

There's spraying and smearing and within minutes there's a sunscreened Caleb.

Casper's hesitation to take off his shirt in public is old, but at least now it's only a brief hesitation as he simply tells himself to stop being silly. Then he hand the bottle of sunscreen over. "Have at it!"

[brokendoors]

Caleb doesn't notice the hesitation, and it's with his usual childish joy that he's taking the bottle and begins to spray Casper. Before long his tongue's sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrates to make each line of sunscreen even. "Did you come to the lake when you were my age, Casper?" he asks.